Movie appeal

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen

(2011)

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Blu-ray delivers stunning video and great audio in this overall recommended Blu-ray release

When Britain's leading fisheries expert is approached by a consultant to help realize a sheik's vision of bringing the sport of fly-fishing to the desert, he immediately thinks the project is both absurd and unachievable. But when the Prime Minister's overzealous press secretary latches on to it as a "good will" story, this unlikely team will put it all on the line and embark on an upstream journey of faith and fish to prove the impossible, possible.

For more about Salmon Fishing in the Yemen and the Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Blu-ray release, see Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Blu-ray Review published by Martin Liebman on July 2, 2012 where this Blu-ray release scored 3.5 out of 5.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen Blu-ray Review

Hook this film into your Blu-ray collection.

Two of Director Lasse Hallström's latest films, Hachi: A Dog's Story and Dear John, get at base human emotions of love and attachment and
separation. Those qualities are present in abundance in his latest -- the funny, touching, and lovable Salmon Fishing in the Yemen -- but
not
quite in the same style and proportions as one might expect. The picture isn't overtly emotional but rather subtly so. It's more concerned
with the larger picture than the smaller picture, how people come together and drift apart and relate to one another in a greater purpose rather than
how their relationships shape the world around them and their perception of it. The movie is filled with wonder and awe, wonder and awe at how big
the world is and how small it may become,
of differences and similarities, of love of all kinds, of friendship, of disappointment, of dreaming, and of achieving. It's a movie of grand ideas and
lofty
goals,
but presented on a fairly intimate level, even within the deluge of details and challenges and disagreements and open eyes and initially closed minds.
It's
funny, serious, charming, heartwarming, and even heartbreaking. It's a little bit of everything as it tells a single story shaped by several people
distanced by miles and ideas but who come together in unexpected ways and find unexpected results to an impossible challenge. It's big, it's
intimate, it's fishing, it's friendship, it's love,
it's life.

Aye Sheikh, there be salmon here!

Tensions are high in both the United Kingdom and the Middle East. A recent UK military incursion into that region has proven disastrous, leaving the
fates of
several soldiers in question. Patricia Maxwell (Kristin Scott Thomas,
I've Loved You So Long), a public relations guru working for the Prime Minister himself, is
tasked with finding a feel-good story accentuating positive relationships between the two regions to ease tensions over the botched operation. She
stumbles upon a plan to transport salmon into Yemen for the purpose of fishing. She latches onto the plan, even if it's a plan that seems doomed
from the beginning, despite the best of intentions. A wealthy Yemeni Sheikh, Muhammad (Amr Waked, Syriana), has tasked his representative, Harriet Chetwode-Talbot
(Emily
Blunt, The Young Victoria), with contacting the UK's foremost expert on
salmon,
Dr. Alfred Jones
(Ewan McGregor, Angels & Demons), and set in motion a plan to transport the salmon to
Yemen and design
for them a habitat where they may not only survive, but thrive. But in the good Doctor's opinion, the plan "unfeasible, fundamentally unfeasible."
He hesitates to follow through beyond a polite e-mail reply stating what he believes to be the obvious, but when he's told to go to Yemen and speak
with the Sheikh directly or lose his job, he chooses the former. It turns out the plan's a little more feasible and scientifically possible, even
plausible, than he
could have imagined, at least when looking at the raw statistics on paper. There, he finds an unlikely friend, a burgeoning romance, a home for the
salmon, and a purpose even he could not have foreseen.

For the lofty goal and for as much money, manpower, determination, thoughtfulness, and perseverance it requires to execute, let alone succeed, the
premise of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is handled with a lightness and gentleness that accentuates the goodness found within the story.
This is a touching, well-crafted movie that speaks to the power of the dream and the possibility of the impossible or, at the very least, statistically
and scientifically
improbable. It's a film defined by wonder, by characters who dream, experience, fulfill, and live a goal. But what's so beautiful about it is that the
story
isn't defined by, and the project isn't brought to fruition because of, money. Instead, it's a goodnatured tale of human ingenuity, perseverance, and
faith, the latter being the key. "You can't catch faith with a fishing rod," Jones states, but indeed, the film proves otherwise, certainly not in the
literal
sense but rather in the mind and heart, in man's ability to succeed, his determination, his willingness to follow through, his spirit of can-do
adventure
and pursuit of accomplishing the impossible. In Salmon Fishing in the Yemen, faith isn't just a five-letter word, a concept, or an impossible
dream. Rather, it's the key ingredient in success, in forming friendships, in discovering love, in learning what it means to live.

There's also the film's personal relationships, including a budding friendship formed over firm conflict of ideas and a love shaped by a shared desire
and the achieving of the impossible. The Jones-Sheikh relationship is one of the film's many pleasant qualities, defined by a shared respect and a
passion for a shared pastime. As burgeoning friends, Amr Waked and Ewan McGregor share a wonderful screen presence together, bringing an easy,
natural, honest tenor to the scenes they share. But the film is largely defined by the romantic relationship that slowly forms between the Ewan
McGregor and Emily Blunt characters. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen develops between them a smart, confident, even-keeled, honest love
story, one shaped, defined, and shaken by real complexities, grounded in believable, challenging, real-world scenarios and genuine human emotions,
not contrived cinema fantasies. But then again that's merely par for the course for a film of this caliber. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen
confidently constructs all of its elements, deeply and fully, into a greater whole, but it balances everything into a complete package that takes all of
its pieces -- big, small, and everything in between -- and brings them together in harmony to form a singular picture, a startlingly touching and
complete motion picture.

Director Lasse Hallström shapes the picture with a gentle precision, accentuating the people and the ideas, breathing life into the picture but not
necessarily forming it, leaving that to the script and his actors. The movie is beautifully shot but simplistically so, again focusing on the people rather
than what's around them. The cast is marvelous, all of the major players contributing seamless, nuanced, and natural performances, defined both
by their individual characteristics as well as their interconnected chemistry. Ewan McGregor shines in what is a performance that intermixes the
playful and the serious, certain but in a way vulnerable. Whether his evolving stance on the salmon plan, his burgeoning relationship
with Harriet, his troubled home life, or his outlook on his own existence, McGregor brings a startling balance to the character, inhabiting his Dr. Jones
and giving him a full, complex,
life-lived shape that's the definition of a rewarding and exceptional effort. Amr Waked shines as the wealthy Sheikh, injecting his character with an
honesty, integrity, and gentleness, crafting a man led by a soul and a passion rather than a bank account and riches. His portrayal of the Sheikh
never accentuates the wealth; he finds the character from the inside out rather than the outside in, and it's because he plays a real man rather
than a body and mind and soul altered -- for better or for worse, usually the latter -- by wealth is the real key to completing the film and
cementing its pleasant, honest, uplifting, hopeful, faithful tone. Lastly, Emily Blunt nicely portrays the complex Harriet, performing the part with an
uncanny kindness and an evolving spirit,
showing a command of the process of handling the challenges she faces with an inward strength rather than stereotyped emotion.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen's 1080p transfer is gorgeous, another winner from Sony. To be sure, the image is a hair soft in spots, but this is a
silky-smooth, true-to-film transfer that captures the picture's various locales with integrity and great attention to detail. Fine detailing impresses with
regularity; the image may not be absolutely striking and razor-sharp at all times, but faces, clothes, and natural outdoor formations dazzle with stability
and film-like accuracy. Colors are splendidly honest and accurate. Whether dull earthen shades or bright clothes, warm wooden instruments, or
accurate natural greens, Sony's transfer brings every element to vivid, picture-perfect life. Black levels are fair, appearing rock-solid here, a slight bit
washed out there, and a touch overpowering elsewhere, but a happy medium dominates. Flesh tones, however, appear consistently true-to-life. A few
trace instances of banding represent the only real visual bugaboo. Light grain remains throughout, rounding a perfectly good transfer into tip-top shape.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen arrives on Blu-ray with a steady, impressive, but not excessively active DTS-HD MA 5.1 lossless soundtrack. This
audio presentation plays the film's mostly gentle music with rock-solid clarity throughout the entire range, evident even through the somewhat
subdued, subtle notes. Atmospherics are nicely immersive and sonically accurate. Gentle rain lightly saturates the soundstage in chapter three, audibly
dropping around the entirety of the listening area and supported by accurate but distant thunder. Quieter scenes near the fishing spots offer the
calming and serene sound of very lightly rolling waters, countered by a heavy gust of rushing liquid later in the movie which loudly and actively but
clearly shoves through the listening area. The only other heavy effect comes as helicopter rotors slice through the listening area with an evident
thump-thump sound. Dialogue can get a little lost under these heaviest effects -- that rushing water in particular -- but otherwise it's stable,
clear, and focused in the middle. This might not be a sonic powerhouse of a track, but there's no doubt that Salmon Fishing in the Yemen plays
with wonderful clarity and stability from beginning to end.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen contains two film-specific supplements and the usual array of Sony previews.

Miracles Happen: Making Salmon Fishing in the Yemen (480p, 13:07): Cast and crew, in this fairly basic overview piece, discuss
the
source novel, the story's qualities and themes, casting the lead roles, character traits and relationships, filming locales, preparing for and shooting the
fishing scenes, natural challenges during the shoot that actually benefited the film, and the cast's satisfaction with the film and the filmmaking
experience.

The Fisherman in the Middle East: Novelist Paul Torday (480p, 3:14): The author discusses the origins of his novel, transitioning it to film,
shaping his characters, the story's tone, and the plot arc.

Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a gentle, touching, soulful picture about accomplishing the impossible, about determination, courage, faith,
friendship,
love, and life. It's not so much about fishing as it faith, faith in oneself and in others, in the possibilities, in the potential to unite, to find goodness in
success. It's nicely directed and very well acted. It's a light but purposeful outing, a picture that will leave audiences feeling good and believing in the
power of man to come together in harmony, under a shared goal and the bond of friendship, never mind in the potential of cinema to tell good, worthy
tales. Sony's Blu-ray release of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen comes up a bit short in terms of extra
content, but the disc features Sony-typical high quality video and audio. Salmon Fishing in the Yemen is a charming, well-made, and must-see
movie; the Blu-ray does it justice. Highly recommended.

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